Born Again
by Evan Vave
Summary: A new Baby is coming, but whos the father? and are the crew of the enterprise ready for it? Sequal to Time, takes place just after the movie in the movie timeline.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: sequal to "Time" takes place shortly after the Nero incident in the movies timeline.

* * *

"McCoy to Kirk, Jim you better get down here" the concerned voice of Bones filled the room "And bring that pointed ear first officer of yours along too, this might interest him"

Before the doctor, lay a half dozen monitors each displaying detailed images of foetuses in different stages of development. Bones became lost in thought, but was soon pulled out of his thoughts as Jim burst through the doors followed closely by the Vulcan.

"Okay Bone's, what have you got for me this time, and just remember if you even try to jab me with a needle I'll jettison you out the nearest airlock" Jim quipped.

Bones looked at the man dead in the eyes "Oh its serious Jim, take a look" he replied pointing at the monitor.

"It appears that one of our crew members is pregnant, exactly how does that warrant the attention of senior command staff?" Spock questioned with a raised eyebrow.

McCoy turned his attention to the pointed ear menace "Because, my patient has never slept with anyone before" McCoy fumed.

"Have you considered that she may simply be, lying" Spock questioned.

McCoy felt a small pang of rage begin to boil within him "You don't think I would've run medical scan's to make sure?"

"Considering that I have no history of your medical expertise on which to base judgment, No" Spock stated flatly.

Jim laughed inwardly at the banter between the pair.

"Well for your information not only did I run the scan, I produced these images of the foetus, now Mr Vulcan why don't you tell me exactly what is wrong with this picture?" McCoy rebutted.

Spock looked at the images intently searching for any anomaly but could find none "These images show the steady progression of the foetus over the first 6 months of development, I see no anomalies" he finally replied.

"Well then, maybe you just failed to notice the time index on each of those scans" McCoy smirked.

Spock reviewed the time index stamps and his face betrayed his shock "That is impossible"

Jim looked from one man to the other "Well, is anyone going to tell the CAPTAIN exactly what's impossible?" he pressed.

Spock overcame his shock and turned to Jim "These scans were all taken within three hours of each other, at the current rate of growth I would wager the child will be ready for delivery within the next two hours" Spock stated.

Jim looked at the images confused "Ensign Troy is half Betazoid is she not, how long does it normally take them to have babies?"

"That's the first thing I looked up" McCoy explained "The gestation period for a Betazoid is ten months. But the baby appears to be only a quarter Betazoid and the rest human"

"Then logically the father was human" Spock stated.

"Good god man have you not been listening? I've examined the ensign, there's no way this baby has a father unless someone has managed to beam a package straight into her uterus" Bones fumed.

"Well then it looks like we got a good old fashioned mystery on our hands!" Jim smiled "And we all know how much I love mysteries"

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

The command crew gathered around the briefing room with excitement. The refit of the Enterprise had been completed on schedule and everyone was ready to get underway.

"Okay so what's our status?" Jim questioned from the head of the briefing table.

Spock took the cue and stood, moving towards a monitor at the far end of the table and activating a map. "After the demise of Nero, both the Alpha quadrant and the Beta quadrant have been thrown into a state of turmoil" He explained enhancing the map to reveal the bordering Klingon and Romulan Empires. "With the destruction of almost a third of the Klingon fleet at the hands of Nero, the Romulan Empire has chosen now to invade the Klingon Boarder. This has relieved pressure on our own boarders allowing us to pull vessels away from the border and aide in the Vulcan resettlement. As for the Enterprise, we have been ordered to the Cardassian Neurtal zone, with the destruction of six of our own ships, and the loss of Vulcan, Command feels that the Cardassian's may choose this time to make a play for our colonies"

"The Cardassian neutral zone?" Scottie piped in "Sir even at maximum warp it will still take us 3 weeks to get there"

Jim nodded his head "I know we would prefer a little more action right now, but with the events that have just passed, I think it would be good for crew morale to take a little break. Consider it a shakedown cruise, give us all a little time to get to know each other" he smirked looking Uhura dead in the eyes.

"Captain, about our unexpected guest" McCoy interrupted "Ensign Troy delivered last night, but the baby is still rapidly aging, if I don't find a way to stop it he'll be dead of old age by then"

"Perhaps I may be able to help" Spock stated, turning to the doctor.

"How?" McCoy questioned.

"We need to know the beings origins, If I perform a mind meld I may be able to retrieve that information" Spock offered.

"First of all, It's not a being, it's a baby!" McCoy rebutted "And secondly I'm not going to let you perform some Vulcan voodoo on a patient of mine"

"It is not voodoo, as a telepathic species, mind melds are a natural part of our evolution" Spock defended.

"There's nothing natural about poking around in some ones head!" McCoy remarked.

Jim raised a hand "I'm sorry Bones, if the baby is an alien being, then we need to find out if it's a danger to this ship" he turned to Spock "Proceed".

* * *

Spock knelt before the child, already it had rapidly aged to the form of a three year old "It is okay I will not harm you" he comforted. The child nodded and proceeded to stand still while Spock placed his hand upon its face.

"Our minds, one and together" Spock whispered as his mind entered the child.

At first there was nothing, just simple darkness, and then a torrent of images began to flood the Vulcan's mind.

A cube so massive it eclipsed the sun, creatures that seemed to be a conglomeration of flesh and machine, a vessel of federation design carrying the registration of NCC1701V. The images passed and he found himself in engineering, but it wasn't the Enterprise, the design was similar but much larger. In the distance he made out a man with deep blue eyes. He had seen the face before, the uniform the man wore was over 20 years old. "Ensign give me a hand over here" The man stated, Spock nodded and walked over, he then picked up a crate and suddenly dropped it "Jesus son that must weigh four hundred ponds" the voice uttered.

The scene dissolved, and Spock now found himself in some sort of outpost, climbing down a ladder. The ladder shuddered violently and someone fell from above him. Spock reached out and pulled the man up by his arm realizing it was the same man he encountered in the previous scene. Again darkness ensued, followed by another scene this time John was in private quarters and again the man was there sitting opposite him "My Son, I'm going to have a son" he stammered tears filling his eyes, before the scenery changed once again.

This time Spock found himself slouched in the corner of a medical shuttle looking upon a crying women as she gave birth. "Tiberius, no that's the worst, name him after your father, Jim, that's a good name" he heard a voice come over the com link. Spock realized what he was watching, the birth of his own Captain. Spock then found himself standing up and bounding across the room "Kirk" he yelled.

"I'm sorry John, it was the only way, take care of my Son" The voice replied over the com link.

Spock found tears streaming down his cheeks "no you have to live" he shouted back "YOU ARE GOING TO LIVE" he added as a transport beam unlike anything Spock had seen before materialized Kirks father before him.

Spock broke away from the meld, his eyes streaming with tears.

Bones moved in to examine the first officer while Jim knelt beside him "Are you okay?" Jim questioned.

Spock nodded brushing away the doctors instruments "I am okay, I was just not prepared for the emotional intensity of the encounter" he answered.

"What did you see?" McCoy questioned.

Spock looked from the doctor to Jim "Your father" he explained.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

Jim looked at Spock with shock "What do you mean you saw my father" he questioned.

Spock shook his head "I cannot explain it, but I believe I experienced the life of someone named John Shepherd, he was a friend of your fathers" Spock stated "But the memories were incorrect, John Shepherd witnessed your birth and the transport of your father moments before the destruction of the Kelvin"

Jim's mind raced, his father had died onboard the Kelvin, saving himself, his mother and 800 crewmen. "Those memories can't be real, my fathers Dead!" he shouted.

Spock looked into Jims eyes "Perhaps the memories I retrieved are from an alternate, alternate reality?" Spock announced.

"An alternate, alternate reality?" McCoy questioned.

"We are living in an alternate reality because of what Nero has done, however, what if this John Shepherd existed in another reality, one in which he managed to save your father" Spock pressed.

Jim made as if he were going to reply but then promptly froze as golden wisps of energy engulfed the child. Instead he turned to McCoy "What's happening?" he questioned.

McCoy pulled out his scanner "These readings are impossible, his bodies undergoing cellular meiosis at an incredible rate, he's aging Jim" He stated as the golden halo diminished, leaving behind the writhing body of naked 25 year old male. "It's stopped" McCoy gasped "His cellular readings have returned to normal, he's no longer aging"

Darren opened his eyes upon the new world he had willed himself into. His consciousness had not fully formed during the transit, pure instinct triggering his flight from the storm that would have unmade his very existence. Now, with the help of his mother, his consciousness had awoken and begun to assimilate the memories left behind by his father.

Darren found his surroundings unusual, he was on the floor, its cold metal surface rough against his bare skin. Around him stood 3 life forms, humanoid he noticed, yet one of them was clearly of a different species from the others. They all stared at Darren with odd expressions on their faces. Darren decided to sit up and stare back at the beings.

"Hello" One of the creatures poke, the language was familiar to Darren and he noted it as the standard Earth language of English. He reached out with his mind using senses bestowed upon him by his mother, he could feel the beings curiosity.

"Hello" Darren finally echoed.

"I am Captain James T Kirk of the Enterprise, may I ask who you are and how you came to be on this ship?" the second creature spoke.

Darren froze, unfamiliar with the mind processes of these humans. He searched the memories bestowed upon him by his father and accessed the information on both Kirk and the Enterprise. Immediately memories of the 13 years his father spent with the young man streamed through his consciousness. Darren reached out and touched the mans face, a tear spilling down Darren's cheek as the emotion behind the memories began to flood through.  
"It was all for you" Darren cried while staring into Kirk's deep blue eyes.

Kirk looked back at this alien being, returning its eternal gaze and shocked by its words "I don't understand" he replied

Darren withdrew his hand and wiped the tears from his cheek, he had to remember that those memories were from another time, another universe they were not relevant here or now. His immediate need was clothing, and summoning the will, a uniform materialized over his body, created by the nanites that resided within his blood stream, another gift from his father.

"How'd he do that?" Jim questioned taking a step back as the uniform materialized over the naked being.

"I do not know" Spock replied.

Darren felt the apprehension in the air "Please, do not be alarmed" he spoke softly "I mean you no harm"

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" this time Bones pressed.

Darren looked at the older man "I am new, I have come here to survive" he explained.

"Survive what?" Jim asked.

"My own demise" Darren replied.

"How did you come to incubate within my crewman?" Jim pressed.

"She is my mother, in order to escape the storm I had no choice but to make the shift, and the shift lead me to her womb" Darren stated. "I must speak with her"

Jim looked to Bones sceptically then nodded.

* * *

Darren was lead to a bed where he found his mother asleep, yet at his presence her mind reached out and touched his own, as she had done in the womb.

_Mother_ he smiled inwardly at the telepathic bond, then froze as the monitors started to scream with alarm and her vitals began to plummet.

"Get him out of here!" Bones yelled as he took up position beside the dyeing women "Get me a crash cart, she's going into cardiac arrest"

Darren tried to reach out, and fought against the nurses who were holding him back until one jabbed him in a neck with a sedative "Nooo!" he cried as consciousness left him, one touch was all he needed, one touch to heal her. But now it would be too late.

"Time of Death 1632" he heard the doctor say just before darkness consumed him.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

Three weeks had gone by, and all this time Darren had retreated into his own mind, refusing to talk with anyone on board. He was in essence, still a child, a child that had lost his mother and father. In a way he blamed himself for her death, a single touch, he knew, could have saved her. But it was over now, with all the powers bestowed upon him he could not resurrect the dead, well at least not with access to continuum energy.

On the bridge of the Enterprise the crew had gathered, they had finally reached their destination and were ready to begin their mission, that was of course until a distress call came, screaming for attention.

"Sir we are being hailed by the USS McKinley, they are being attacked" Uhura shouted from her console.

Jim sat up straight "Helm lay in a course for the McKinley's last position, engage at maximum warp" he ordered.

"Aye Captain" Sulu responded as he altered the ships heading.

"Uhura, is there any information on who attacked them?" Jim questioned, just as his first officer entered the bridge.

"No Captain, but I believe it maybe Cardassian in origin" Uhura replied.

"Captain we are approaching the McKinley's last coordinates, dropping out of warp in 3 seconds" Sulu reported.

"Spock take tactical" Kirk ordered "Keep the phasers warmed up and the torpedoes on standby"

"Yes Captain" Spock replied just as the ship catapulted to a stop.

Before them lay the destroyed mass of the McKinley.

"What happened here?" Jim questioned.

"I am detecting trace amounts of particulate energy, it matches a Cardassian profile" Chekov announced.

"Any life signs?" Jim pressed.

"Negative Captain" Chekov replied.

"183 people were aboard that ship, are you telling me they're all dead?" Jim sighed.

"It is possible that the attacking vessel took prisoners, however it is unlikely" Spock answered.

"Bring sensors to full power, I want a complete sweep of this sector, find the nearest Cardassian ship and bring us to her now!" Jim shouted.

"Aye Captain" Uhura replied. In truth she had already began scanning for Cardassian transponder frequencies.

"I've located several Cardassian vessels, they appear to be gathering in the Liander system" she finally announced.

"The Liander system?" Jim questioned.

"The Liander system has no strategic value except as a staging ground for an invasion against Bajor" Spock stated "It is logical to assume that the Cardassians are preparing to occupy that world"

"Sir Bajor is outside of federation territory, we don't have any jurisdiction there" Chekov stated.

"Just like the Cardassians had no jurisdiction on our side of the Neutral Zone!" Jim almost shouted "Sulu set a course for Bajor and engage"

* * *

"Arriving in orbit of Bajor in 5 seconds Captain" Sulu announced as the pristine blue green gem of a world appeared.

"We are being hailed by first minister Trasnia Duratchu" Uhura announced.

"On screen" Jim ordered.

"Greetings Captain, I did not anticipate seeing another federation vessel above our world after we declined federation membership almost ten years ago" the first minister announced.

"I am sorry if we are bothering you first minister" Jim replied "But we were investigating the destruction of one of our vessels nearby when we detected a massive Cardassian fleet mobilizing in the Liander system"

A frown appeared on the ministers forehead "What could the Cardassians possibly be doing in the Liander system?" he questioned.

"We believe they are preparing to stage an attack on Bajor" Spock spoke.

The first minister turned to Spock with a raised eyebrow "Why would the Cardassians ever wish to occupy Bajor? We are a race of philosophers, and artists, of what value would we be to them?"

"As I understand it First minister, your race was exploring space long before mine learnt to walk upright, but for a race so old your technology is incredibly out dated. You would offer little resistance against a Cardassian fleet, and they would have a world of billions to serve them" Jim replied.

"Captain we have a problem, the Cardassian fleet has jumped to warp, they're heading here and they're heading here fast!" Sulu announced.

Shock overtook the first minister "I'm ordering our planetary defences online, but as you say captain they're technologically out dated, will you stay, will you help us?"

"One of those vessels destroyed a federation ship and murdered our people in cold blood. Of course we're going to stay and fight!" Jim replied.

The first minister nodded as he terminated the link.

"I'm detecting launches from several of the planets moons and surface, it seems that they have some fighters" Chekov stated.

"Set battle condition red, full power to shields and weapons" Jim ordered.

* * *

The void of space became a mess of stars as two dozen Cardassian war ships warped into orbit of Bajor.

"Captain we are being hailed by the Cardassian fleet" Uhura reported.

"On screen" Jim ordered.

Immediately the image of a Cardassian captain appeared on screen "Federation vessel withdraw immediately or be destroyed, On behalf of the Cardassian union we hereby annex this world and its colonies"

"This is Captain James T Kirk of the USS Enterprise, the Bajorians are a sovereign people, you have no right to annex this space" Kirk replied.

Almost immediately the view screen died as the Cardassian captain ended the transmission.

"What's happening?" Kirk questioned.

"Sir they are jamming all subspace communications in system" Uhura reported.

"They have also armed weapons and targeted us with their disrupters Captain" Spock announced.

"Stand your ground commander, don't fire unless fired upon" Jim ordered as space erupted in disrupter fire.

"Damage to decks 4 through 9, rerouting structural integrity fields to compensate" An ensign reported.

"Returning fire" Spock announced as the forward phaser turrets locked onto their respective targets and released a torrent of deadly energy. The result was immediate as one of the Cardassian vessels erupted in a ball of fire. The remaining vessels began evasive patterns, picking off the Bajoran escorts while bringing as much power to bear upon the Enterprise as possible.

The ship shuddered as another round of disrupter fire struck home.

"Port shields down to 23 percent, rerouting emergency power to compensate" an ensign reported as several torpedoes launched, easily obliterating another crippled Cardassian vessel.

"SIR LOOK" Uhura shouted as five of the Cardassian vessels moved into low orbit and began bombarding entire continents from space.

"My god those are nukes" Sulu announced, stunned that the Cardassians would resort to such primitive but deadly weapons.

"Nuclear fallout is beginning to encase the globe Captain, I estimate at least a 70 percent death toll!" Chekov announced as the ship rocked from another round of fire.

"Shields are going captain, we have to get out of here now!" an ensign reported.

Jim snapped back to attention, "Sulu get us out of here" he ordered.

Seconds later the enterprise jumped to warp leaving behind the doomed world. However they were not alone as 3 Cardassian vessels jumped after them.

The ship shuddered from more plasma fire.

"We are being pursued captain, I've diverted all power to aft shields but they won't hold very long" Chekov announced.

"Sir If we cannot outrun them I believe our best option is to hide. We are very close to the Delorious belt, it is a highly charged plasma field several light years in diameter, it would make a perfect hiding spot" Spock stated.

"Sulu, set a course for the belt, we're going to have to blind their sensors for at least a few minutes to give us time to disappear" Kirk questioned "Anyone got any ideas?"

"If we realign our deflector array to emit an inverse graviton pulse it should not only overload their navigational array, but disrupt their sensors and warp field for at least 2 minutes" Darren offered as he stumbled onto the bridge.

"Do it" Kirk ordered.

The ship shuddered once more as a fresh round of plasma struck its aft shields punching them into the red. But almost immediately the Cardassian vessels were thrown out of warp.

* * *

"We're safe Captain, the energy field from the belt is effectively masking our power signatures, It will take them years to find us in here" Chekov announced.

Jim turned his attention to Darren who was still standing by the entrance to the bridge. "Welcome to the bridge" he smiled in the man's direction.

Darren looked into Jim's eyes, memories emerging of the time his father had spent with the man, but that was another life time ago, another universe. He had only come to the bridge for one reason and one reason only, self preservation.

Jim walked up to Darren "May I have a private word with you?" he questioned.

Darren nodded, and the pair moved into the adjacent ready room. Jim took a seat behind his desk and gestured for Darren to be seated, Darren nodded and the pair faced each other directly.

The pair stared at each other for some time before Jim finally broke the silence "I'm sorry about your mother" he consoled.

"It was my fault" Darren admitted "I've come to accept that, If I had not forced my way into this place, If I had not sought refuge within her womb she would still be alive, and I would have perished"

"Then it is true, you come from another universe" Jim pressed.

Darren nodded his head "A parallel universe, one in which there was but a single divergence" he replied.

"what was the divergence?" Jim asked.

"My father was never born in your universe, and because of that one alteration, your entire timeline has changed" Darren confessed.

"I don't understand" Jim replied.

"I barely understand it myself Jim" Darren stated, the familiarity of the name easily rolling off his tongue "I was born with the genetic knowledge of my father, images of worlds, places and times that no longer exist"

"What kind of knowledge?" Jim asked.

"You for one instance, I know you, I helped raise you while your parents were off world pursing their careers in Starfleet, I have 13 years of memories of you that never happened, including memories of your father" he answered.

"My father died aboard the Kelvin" Jim stated flatly

"No, I was there, or more accurately my father was there at George Kirks last fleeting moments, he transported your father to safety, he survived and rose to the rank of admiral within star fleet." Darren replied.

Kirk shook his head "It's impossible" he replied.

Darren looked into Kirks eyes, his Betazoid half feeling the pain in Jims heart, a pain his own memories wanted him to extinguish. Reaching out a hand Darren touched his father's godson creating a mental link between the pair. The memories of who and what George Kirk had become streamed into Jim, sadness giving way to Joy as the moments of his fathers life played before him.

* * *


End file.
